


Clouded

by freosan



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Dubious Consent, Everybody Lives, Loyalty, dark Noct, death of pregnant woman, except Gladio, long enough to see themselves become the villain
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-13
Updated: 2018-07-10
Packaged: 2019-02-14 08:34:43
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 3
Words: 1,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13003902
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/freosan/pseuds/freosan
Summary: The history of Noct's descent into darkness, in scattered form.





	1. how he betrayed

**Author's Note:**

> Started as a minifill for [this kinkmeme prompt](https://ffxv-kinkmeme.dreamwidth.org/4398.html?thread=7591470#cmt7591470). Now seems to be taking on a life of its own. New drabbles as and when I figure out what happened.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Loyalty manifests in many different ways.

“You’re my Shield. You can’t leave,” Noctis says.  
  
Ignis observes Gladio from where he kneels at Noctis’s right hand. From the height of the dais on which the throne sits, even the Shield seems small.  
  
“I’m Shield to the King of Lucis,” Gladio says, voice level though his hands are clenched into fists. “You’re no king anymore.”  
  
Noctis’s voice is cold. “That’s not your place to question.”  
  
“It’s not  _your_  place to ruin your citizens’ lives!” Gladio, by contrast, is hellfire-hot in his anger. “You don’t help Lucis by declaring war. Your actions are unworthy of the throne.”  
  
In Ignis’s head there is a storm building. He looks away from Gladio, to ground himself on his rock, his island, his king. He has to turn his whole head to fix his one useful eye on the man on the throne. Noctis does not show that he’s seen the motion, except that his right hand settles in Ignis’s hair.  
  
“I’m doing this to protect Lucis,” Noctis says. “If you can’t understand that, fine, but you should trust me enough to accept it.”  
  
Gladio’s voice cracks as he replies. “I can’t, Noct. Not anymore.”  
  
Noctis sits ramrod-straight in the throne, unyielding. “Then you’re useless.”  
  
Gladio storms out. The doors slam open when he reaches them, and some seconds later, close on their own with a heavy thud. Ignis feels it as a clap of thunder, shaking him to the depths of his bones.  
  
“And so I lose my Shield,” Noctis says, sighing. He leans on his right elbow, and white lightning bursts to life in the palm of his left hand. He toys with it idly as he asks them, “You’ll stay with me, right?”  
  
“Forever, Your Majesty,” Prompto swears, from his place at Noctis's feet.  
  
Ignis says, “So long as I draw breath, I’m yours.”  
  
The lightning in Noctis’ hand spirals to the ceiling. He closes his fist, and the light goes out.  
  
“He’ll come back,” Prompto says. “He just has to cool off. No way he’ll stay gone.”  
  
Noctis shakes his head. “No. He’s not coming back this time,” he says. His left hand reaches out to thread through Prompto’s hair. His eyes meet Ignis’s.  
  
Ignis feels as though he can see clear sky through thunderclouds. “I think you’re right, Your Majesty.”  
  
Gladio is a shield with nothing to protect, a pitiful being indeed. He’s drunk when Ignis finds him. Ignis leads him easily out of the bar. Even more easily down a side street, where no one will walk until morning.  
  
When Ignis slits Gladio’s throat, the inside of his head is calm and quiet as the sky after a storm.


	2. rush to the start

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Noctis survived somehow.

The hospital staff let Ignis give him the news, which Noct thinks is cowardice.

“She was concealing a pregnancy at the time of her death,” Ignis says. Noct hears the words but doesn’t let them touch him. He can’t begin to cope with the losses he’s already suffered; he wouldn’t know what to do with Luna having a baby even if she were here, explaining this herself.

Ignis continues, in the same soft, level tone, “The child did not survive.”

Noct grips the blankets until his knuckles turn white. “ _Why_? Why wouldn’t she tell me?”

Ignis shakes his head. “We all thought we would have more time.” 

—

Noct should be dead. The royal arms have pierced his heart. When his father gave the killing blow, there were tears running down his face.

But Noct is alive, and he stands up from the throne, running to meet his friends and the dawn.

—

Umbra stands before the throne, bowing as politely as any of Noct’s Council. He barks, and Noct reaches down to pet him.

There’s no choice, this time. Noct is pulled along with the Astrals’ magic, and he is back in his memories, back in his apartment in Insomnia with the Wall shimmering outside his window.

In his reflection, he is not himself. Instead of his own younger face, Luna looks back at him from the window. He reaches out, their fingertips touch, there is a shattering of glass. He is in Luna’s bedroom, with full sun streaming through her windows.

“You aren’t yourself,” she says, but she hugs him. He kisses her, and then, she kisses him. Whatever this is, he can only be grateful that he had this chance to learn the taste of her lips. She bears him down to her bed.

Together, they make a sacrifice.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What am I even doing with this fic? Please enjoy some extremely dubiously consensual Ignoct and a view into my id I guess.

“Ignis,” Noctis says.

Ignis stops cold in the middle of his rather impassioned rant about water rights, and looks to his king.

“Yes, Majesty?”

“Come up here.”

Noctis sounds perfectly calm, but Ignis still sees Prompto, across the table, wince. He understands. Gladio tenses at Ignis’s side but makes no other move.

Ignis faces the throne, bows, and ascends the steps. Noctis watches him all the while. He says nothing until Ignis takes a knee in front of him.

“I’m bored, Iggy. Haven’t we been talking about this long enough?”

“I apologize, Majesty,” Ignis murmurs. “I’ve gotten carried away.”

“Yeah. It’s okay, you can make it up to me.” Noctis reaches down and grips Ignis’s jaw, the way his fingers dig into Ignis’s skin at odds with his indulgent smile. “Come sit up here.”

Ignis slides into Noctis’s lap without ever standing up all the way. Noctis grabs his hips and pulls until he’s seated with his legs spread wide over Noctis’s lap. He leans his back into Noctis’s chest with his head bowed.

“Don’t get shy,” Noctis says into his ear, warm enough that Ignis can hear he’s smiling, and he reaches to unbuckle Ignis’s belt. Ignis shudders as Noctis pulls his shirt up, seeking skin. His nails dig into Ignis’s sides and Ignis knows he’ll find half-moon bruises later.

“C’mon, up,” Noctis orders him. Ignis lifts his hips so Noctis can pull his trousers down to expose his ass. Ignis’s rapidly hardening cock stays trapped under unyielding fabric. Noctis never cares for Ignis’s comfort when he’s in this mood, and Ignis has learned to take his pleasure anyway.

His uniform jacket is long enough that Prompto and Gladio can’t see what’s happening, but they know. Prompto watches, flushed, as Noctis shoves three fingers in Ignis’s mouth, and when Noctis takes those fingers and encourages Ignis to lift up and sit on them, Gladio turns his head away.

Ignis closes his eye. No reason for him to watch, when it’s he who is on display. It’s humiliating enough to be treated this way, in open court, without knowing what his lovers think of him. Noctis pulls his collar open and bites his throat. His fingers spread inside Ignis, and Ignis moans, loud enough that it echoes in the careful acoustics.

“That’s it,” Noctis mutters. “They don’t mind hearing. Prompto _wishes_ he was up here.” As he speaks he fumbles with his own belt, and soon Ignis feels his cock pressing against his entrance. “You’re the only one who’s earned this.”

Ignis knows they can hear, the way the throne room is engineered, so that the king’s word will carry to every corner of it. Neither of them can leave; Gladio who hasn’t been allowed to touch Noctis in weeks, or Prompto who is still wearing the chastity device that Noctis put on him a month ago. Noctis can punish Ignis and the two of them at the same time, through Ignis’s pleasure, and Ignis wishes he didn’t know who taught his king to think so deviously.

They can hear the noises Ignis is making, too, as Noctis pushes inside him, encouraging him with muttered compliments and harsh movements to be loud. His grip is like steel on Ignis’s hips and Ignis rides him hard, fast, willing this to be over quickly. He won’t, however, leave Noctis unsatisfied. He leans back and finds that angle which will let him climax. Noctis groans, and Ignis’s moans take on a more desperate edge in response.

Orgasm is a non-event, a mere relief, a sign that this will end soon. And it does; Noctis follows him over the edge moments later, his breath heavy on the back of Ignis’s neck. Down below them, Gladio has lifted his head again to watch. Prompto’s hands are braced against the table, his face a mask of discomfort.

“Thanks, Specs,” Noctis murmurs. He kisses the back of Ignis’s neck, and releases Ignis’s hips. Ignis draws his trousers back up and sinks back to the floor. He ignores the sticky mess Noctis has made of him.

As he kneels, Noctis strokes his hair, fixing the strands that have come loose from their gel. Ignis lets his eyes slip closed. Noctis’s touch is not unwelcome, despite everything.

“Back to work, I guess?” Noctis says, smiling down at him.

“Of course, your Majesty,” Ignis replies, and slowly stands to make his way back to the others.


End file.
